Milestones
by Nocturnea
Summary: Batman hears about what his little Robin is doing after leaving, and tries to keep indifferent. But he still considers his former sidekick and ward his son, and still feels concern about him. Barry and Clark aren't really helping in the phrasing of their reports, though they do have good intentions.
1. Technically Not Stalking

_This is in JLU continuity, though I'm altering JLU canon a little to fit this in that Wally West isn't the JL's founding Flash. Barry Allen is._

Batman sat down at his usual place in the Watchtower cafeteria, at a table for four across from Green Lantern. Sometimes another person, usually Hawkgirl or Wonder Woman, joined them, but it didn't seem like it'd happen that day.

Of course, this was based around the assumption that the Flash wouldn't be done his mission until after lunch. Barry Allen was a regular third member of their unofficial meal club.

The Scarlet Speedster came zooming in and sat down to Batman's right.

"Hey Bats, guess what your former sidekick is up to?" He asked. Batman, who wasn't particularly in the mood having just heard that Two-Face had escaped from Arkham, sighed.

"What?" The Dark Knight asked flatly, through partially clenched teeth.

"He's founded a new team and fought off a potential Gordanian invasion!" The Flash replied, beaming. Batman shrugged.

"Don't we do stuff like that every other week?" He deadpanned.

"Y'know, it's alright to admit you miss him." Green Lantern said.

"I don't." Batman replied, giving both his friends glares that told them the conversation was over.

~(one year later)~

"Hey, Batman? I think you might want to hear this." Superman knocked on the door of Batman's room in the Watchtower. The Dark Knight, who had been in the middle of examining a supposedly-important (but admittedly not very time-sensitive) case file, responded with an irritated grunt. The Man of Steel sighed and tapped his foot about once a second as he waited for his friend to come around and listen. Anyway, according to Green Lantern (who, aside from Question, was the only one who really knew much about Batman's private life), Batman was only examining the case file for his own brand of fun and fulfillment. Apparently the criminal they concerned died long before capture or even having an identity found.

"What?" It took Bruce a whole ten minutes to give his annoyed, one-word response.

"Robin's been kidnapped by some guy called Slade and forced to commit crimes." Clark replied.

"I know. You're forgetting he stole from my company last night. I do monitor these things, remember." Bruce smirked, thinking that maybe he could get back to those case files.

"You sure you don't want to... You know... DO anything about it?" Clark inquired.

"No. Robin left about a year ago, and hasn't contacted me since. If he wanted my help, he'd have asked for it." Bruce attempted to rationalize his decision, but Clark could tell he was hiding the real reason.

"In other words, you're upset he left." Clark said to his friend, who stifled an annoyed groan in response.

"What in the world gave you that idea?" Bruce asked flatly. Clark smirked in victory: when Bruce Wayne started using that tone of voice, the Man of Steel knew he was gaining ground in the argument.

"Well, let me see," Clark pretended to think before continuing, "for starters, you usually aren't this unreasonable."

"I'm not being unreasonable, I'm just saying, if the boy wanted me back in his life for this he would ask for help." Bruce inwardly groaned, knowing he had probably assured his loss of the debate.

"And I'm just saying if you were in my position and having this conversation with, say, Green Arrow over Speedy, you'd be the first to point out he can't call you if he's been kidnapped." Clark rebutted calmly. Bruce sighed and conceded. After all, though it was hard to admit, Clark was one of his best friends and it was probably safe to tell him.

"Alright, come in and close the door." Bruce shoved the case file into a desk drawer. Once Clark was in and the door was closed, he put the extra soundproofing door up and took a deep breath, preparing to continue.

"So, what's wrong, Bruce?" Clark asked, noting the anti-eavesdropping precaution and deeming it safe to use civilian names. "Other than the fact your former protégé and adopted son has been kidnapped by a violent madman, I mean."

"You're not helping, Clark." Bruce grumbled.

"Sorry." Clark apologized.

"It's fine. I've just... Well, he ran away from home one day without telling me, after we had a disagreement. I only heard his whereabouts from Flash a week later, and it turned out he went all the way across the continent. And it's been a whole year, and he hasn't even called me once." Bruce felt himself getting more and more emotional, so he took a deep breath to help himself calm down. "He left his Bat-Com in pieces on the roof of Wayne manor, so I can't call him. I've never gotten to say that yes, he did have a point with what he said about my methods, and I've never gotten to tell him I'm proud of him, and I've never gotten to tell him I really do think of him as a son."

"Bruce..." Clark said softly, not sure how to respond to his friend. Bruce Wayne rarely poured out his emotions as Bruce Wayne, and Clark was fairly certain he added some anti-sharing filters to his Batman costume or something.

"And now, I'm wondering if I might never get the chance." Bruce coughed and willed himself to return to Batman mode.

"And not one word of this had better leave this room, alright?"

"Deal. But, Bruce..."

"Batman."

"Ok, Batman... If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. And so is Diana, I might add..."

"No."

"Barry?"

"No offence to him, but I'd rather talk to Wally."

"That's a surprise. He's too much the sunshine and joking type."

"Point taken."

"John?"

"Already do, more often than anyone else at least."

"I didn't mean about your feelings for Diana."

"NO! I mean, no. That's not what we talk about. That's not even a thing. I mean, I don't... We aren't... Oh, you know me well enough to know what I mean."

"Sure, sure..." Clark chuckled a bit, and was pleased to see Batman crack a tiny trace of a smile.

Five minutes and twenty more JL members later, they were still at it.

"Booster Gold?"

"Absolutely not! Don't you have to write an article on Lexcorp or something?"

"I'm going, I'm going..."

~(a few months later)~

"Back so soon?" Batman asked Wonder Woman as she— along with Superman, Martian Manhunter, Huntress, Fire, Ice, and Hawkgirl— walked over to him from the teleport pad.

"Wasn't much to do, seeing as Robin and his team had already taken down the demon and stopped the end of the world." Diana smiled. "You must be pretty proud of him. It wasn't that long ago when he had to wait out the apocalypse scenarios in the Batcave."

"I'd prefer it if that was still what he was doing." Batman muttered.

"Oh, come on. I know you miss your little birdie, but aren't you glad he's doing well?"

"One, I don't miss him. Two, I'm glad he's doing well, but he's fifteen. He's too young to be doing this without adult supervision."

"He's been doing this with loose supervision at best since he was nine."

"Eight actually, and I know, but—"

"No buts. Anyway, we both know Captain Marvel is around three or four years younger."

"He's different!"

"Not mentally."

"Fine, point taken. But Robin doesn't have superpowers." By this point, both founding JL members had walked to the privacy of Wonder Woman's room.

"His teammates do, and they all seem more than ready to protect him if he needs it. Not that that stops him from being very annoyed if they do so prematurely."

"You seem to have been keeping tabs on them."

"I knew you'd be to stubborn to do it yourself."

"I'm not stubborn.

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"See?"

"I still say I'm not."

"You're just proving my point more, Bruce."

"Alright, I guess I am. Oh, and I still think Robin should stop putting himself in danger to begin with."

"Relax, I already told you his friends keep him safe." Diana chuckled at the news footage she had seen a few months ago about his battle with Fang and Killer Moth's daughter. "Sometimes a bit too much."

"What's so funny?"

"Let's just say your family must have a thing for princesses." An awkward silence followed.

"Oh. Hm... Who is his team, by the way?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"He made it quite clear he didn't want me in his life anymore. I've made a point of giving him space."

"In other words, you avoid any information about him except for what we tell you." It wasn't a question.

"Exactly."

"Well, first of all, the team is called the Teen Titans. It has five members, and an eastern division with another five. Robin's the leader of his team, which is based in a very obvious T-shaped tower in Jump Bay."

"Members?"

"I was getting to that. Beast Boy joined shortly after quitting the Doom Patrol. Apparently Mento was just as adamant as you are that he didn't miss Beast Boy, only he wasn't lying."

"I'm not either. I have Alfred and sometimes Batgirl, ergo I am not lonely."

"Suuuure you aren't."

"Continue, please. Before this gets more awkward."

"It isn't already awkward that you're pretty much being passive-aggressive about wanting Barry and me to stalk your son?"

"Getting awkward..." Bruce said through clenched teeth. Diana laughed.

"Of course. Anyway, Cyborg has also joined Robin's team. He's like a big brother to all of them, according to what Ollie's heard from Roy."

"Roy's involved in this as well? He and Robin haven't been getting along so well in the past few years..."

"They're still rivals, but friends too. Roy's been complaining everyone mistakes him for Robin just because they both wear the same kind of mask. And actually, he's a member of the east branch."

"I see. Carry on."

"Alright. So next is Raven, a powerful magician. Other than that, I don't really know much about her. And finally Starfire, who's an alien. I asked GL about her, and he said she's actually the princess of a planet called Tamaran, and had previously been captured by Gordanian slavers." Diana took a moment to express her disgust at slavery by pressing her bracelets together, a Themiscyran sign of solemn recognition(1). Bruce didn't have any bracelets, but knew what she was doing and made the gesture with just his wrists. The silence had an unfortunate side effect of letting him fully register the information, though...

"Robin has a girlfriend?!" Bruce immediately regretted shouting so loudly, but it was a certain fatherly instinct that told him he should be nervous when his son started dating.

"No, actually. It's obvious to everyone but them that they both feel that way, though." Diana chuckled.

"Like with you two?" Green Arrow's voice came in through the door. He entered, having made his prescence known and eliminated any reason to stay outside, though he hadn't been eavesdropping the whole time. It was honestly just that he had been passing by when Batman shouted.

"How long have you been listening? Oh, and no, it's not like that. Diana and I... We're not... I mean, I don't... I don't see her as anything but a close friend and respected colleague." The portion of the Dark Knight's face that wasn't covered by his cowl was red as the Flash's costume.

"Sure, Bats... I'd believe that if your faces weren't only like three inches apart." Green Arrow said cheerfully, causing the Themiscyran Princess to join her friend in blushing. They had been so caught up in keeping the majority of their conversation unheard that they hadn't noticed themselves creeping closer.

"Out of my room, Arrow!"

"But—"

"You heard her, Arrow."

"But—"

"OUT!" Diana and Bruce yelled in sync, making Green Arrow shrink a little.

"Yes'm. Have a nice day." He waved stiffly, walking to his room. Batman was scary, and Wonder Woman could be too if she wanted to, but together... Yeeesh.

~(a week later)~

"Hey Bats, just wanted to congratulate you on your little baby bird being all grown up now." This time, the voice of Wally West interrupted his attempts to solve the now-irrelevant case.

"Shut up Wally, Diana already assured me Robin isn't in a relationship."

"Don't want him to beat you to the punch, huh? I'm so glad I'm already married, it'd be embarrassing if Wally were to get a girlfriend before me. I feel for you my friend, I really do."

"Uncle Barry! You decided to join the fun!"

"Of course I did, Walls. It's always satisfying to get the world's greatest detective flustered."

"Flash, Kid Flash, don't go spouting your secret ID in the hallway." Batman immediately regretted saying that as he found two speedsters sitting on either side of him. The Dark Knight sighed and put the anti-eavesdropping measures into place; last time's debacle would not be repeated.

"So, you were saying Diana said Robin's not in a relationship?" Barry asked. Bruce nodded.

"Yes. Though she did say he's fallen for her 'harder than a skydiver carrying Sisyphus's rock', which I think translates to pretty hard." Bruce felt a small surge of alarm at Wally's guffaws.

"Heh... Heh... I'll just be in the washroom." Wally managed between peals of very obviously faked laughter. He didn't really care that neither older hero would fall for the laughing; he needed to get out of there before Barry broke the news to Bats. Soundproofing extra door or not, there was no way anyone in the room, if not the entire Watchtower, would be able to avoid getting their ears blasted out. After all, if hearing Robin might have a girlfriend among one of his trusted teammates and friends had caused the reported incident last week, what would hearing they had KISSED before even having spoken to eachother do?

Meanwhile, back in Batman's room, Barry Allen was still dancing around the matter he had come to report to Bruce. After all, if he didn't tell then Shayera, who had been with him and seen it too, had said she would. And Barry, being a closer friend of Bruce, would get a ton of flack from the world's greatest detective of he put it off until then.

"Look, Bruce... I have something to tell you."

"Go on."

"Well... You know how Robin isn't in a relationship but could be, with one of his closest friends and teammates?"

"Stop dancing around it, Barry. I promise I won't be mad."

"Are you sure? Okay, then... You might want to sit down on your bed."

"I'm not even going to ask this time." Bruce recalled the last time his friend had told him to sit on his bed for a piece of news. He had refused. To say the least, it was not a good experience, and not really one he cared to repeat. He raised an eyebrow as Barry took a deep breath.

"Alright... Well, I have some reason to believe Diana's description may not be entirely acccurate. You know how Shayera and I were doing recon on that reported Gordanian ship?"

"Uh-huh. Continue."

"Okay... Well at first Starfire didn't seem to be able to speak English, and she and Robin were fighting for some reason though I wasn't there in time to see why and then Cyborg and Beast Boy joined in and Raven stopped them from fighting and... AndStarfirekissedRobinonthelipsforliketenwholeseco nds. Phew, it sure was good to get that off my chest. Seeya Bats!" Barry, who was by this point sweating buckets, ran out of the room at Mach Five. Right after, Shayera Hol entered the room, closing the door and the soundproofing door behind her.

"Hey, Bruce. I have something to tell you."

"Two in one night? If it's the same thing Barry was trying to tell me about, then I'd be happy if you clarified. He's the fastest man alive, but when he's nervous—which he seemed to be for some reason—he becomes the fastest-talking man alive too." Bruce joked, earning a smile from Shayera.

"The Batman, joking? It must be the end of the world."

"I can joke! And anyway, even if it is, it'd only be what, the third time this month?"

"Something like that, yeah. I see you're seated on your bed... I think I know what Barry was trying to tell you."

"Oh see, now you've piqued my interest. What is it?"

"Well... To your knowledge, Robin has never had a crush, sent a Valentine, or kissed a girl?"

"Yeah..." Bruce did NOT like where this was going.

"I'll just put this plainly. Your knowledge on that front has been outdated for over a year."

"You mean Diana was wrong?"

"No, your former sidekick still hasn't gotten the guts to accept that everyone but him and her knows he's madly in love with her and finally ask her on a date."

"Then what?"

"Pretty much the first thing Barry and I saw her doing was kiss him. For impressively long, too."

"Without permission? Or was he just that much of a normal teenager?" Bruce said teenager as though it was a curse word.

"Barry said she didn't seem to be able to speak English before. But he didn't protest, anyhow."

"I see. I'll have to ask John if he knows why a Tamaranean would do this, if kissing is the normal Tamaranean greeting or something."

"You're taking this more calmly than I'd thought."

"Well, an alien usually needs time to adjust to human customs. But if you see Barry..."

"I should tell him he's getting an earful for not telling you sooner?"

"You hit the nail on the head."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not the only thing that'll be hit on the head?"

~(three weeks later)~

"Batman."

"Go away."

"Batman, there's a meeting right now. Come on, all of the other founding members are waiting for you."

"Fine." Batman grumbled, walking to the meeting room.

Once the door was closed, Superman spoke up.

"As all of us may or may not know, the Teen Titans have been creating a global network of teen heroes to combat the Brotherhood of Evil's latest scheme, which seems to be something to do with targeting teen heroes. We've stayed out so far because, frankly, there's only so many people who can work together before a team collapses on itself. However, we're meeting here today to discuss whether we should change that decision."

"The Titans are good guys, and if they're handling it, then why get involved? You just said that too large a team can collapse on itself." Green Lantern pointed out.

"I was just about to get to that. Barry?"

"Wally called me the other day, sounding pretty panicked. As you all know, when any of the three Flashes get panicked, we start talking really, really fast. Usually I can calm Wally down within half a minute, but this time it took until he ran out of breath three minutes later for him to calm down. Afterwards, he explained that he got a distress call from Robin and shortly afterwards his Titans communicator exploded." Barry explained.

"Apparently, Robin and most of the other Titans have been captured by the Brotherhood. We have reason to believe the Brain plans to kill them tomorrow." J'onn's statement caused shocked gasps from all present except Bruce.

"We don't need to intervene. The remaining Titans should be able to handle it." Bruce replied flatly. "Besides, we don't have time to find out their hideout's location."

"About a mile under the Pont D'Iéna in Paris, France." Barry countered. "According to Wally, the secret hideout isn't all that secret. They disclosed their location to all invited villains, and... Well, Wally's girlfriend has connections. That's all he'd tell me."

"I... see. What's the point of having a secret hideout that you can find out from any random former HIVE student?" Bruce asked.

"You figured out who told that fast?"

"Yep. It really wasn't that hard, considering last time he visited his cellphone background was a picture of him and Janička Zíma (2)." Bruce looked around at the blank expressions on his friends' faces and decided to explain further. "I knew who she is because she's a metahuman. She's also gone by Janet Samara, and Jinx." Assorted gasps arose.

"You mean Wally lied?"

"Not technically, seeing as the HIVE Five's leader would have the connections necessary to get invited." Bruce said. He was admittedly a bit impressed at Wally's clever untruth. He hasn't thought the kid would be able to do something like that.

"Wally's life choices aside, we need to make a decision, and soon." Clark reminded them. Everyone murmured agreement.

"Alright. On the count of three, put your hand up if you vote that we go and help. One, two, three!" Hands went up in sync, and a decision was made.

~(to be concluded in the next chapter)~  
Footnotes:  
(1) It's pretty much what I came up with as the Themiscyran equivalent of a moment of respectful, sympathetic silence.

(2) Janička is a Czech name derived from Johannes, which is derived from Ioannes, which is derived from Yochanan, which means "Yaweh is gracious". It shares a root with John, which is the name of two highly revered saints, and has the connotation of meaning "blessd by God" unless I'm reading into it too much. Zíma means winter. I thought it fit Jinx pretty well.

_So, what do you think? What should they decide? Leave your vote in a review or PM it to me! Thank you!_


	2. Reunion and a Tragic Misunderstanding

The decision was almost unanimous. Heck, it should have been unanimous except for the stubborn ol' Bat. But despite Bruce and his hardheadedness, the decision was made to go and help the Teen Titans, and that was that. It was also how Bruce found himself reluctantly boarding a Javelin with Diana, Barry, and Ollie about five minutes after the meeting.

"Remind me again, what are we doing?" Ollie asked.

"Saving the kids." Bruce replied. An indignant harrumph came through Barry's so-called Flashcomm (which was really just a rubber cover he put over his cellphone for the purpose of indicating he was talking to Wally or Jay). "Sorry, the Teens." Bruce corrected in a snide tone.

"Why are we going to Paris?" Ollie asked. Bruce sighed. This was going to be a long Javelin ride.

"Is it too late to get beamed down?" Bruce whispered to Diana. The Amazon gave him an amused smile and shook her head.

"Nope, you're stuck learning to socialize."

"Great." Bruce moaned exaggeratedly, prompting Diana to let out a soft chuckle.

"Again, why are we going to Paris?" Ollie asked.

"The Brotherhood of Evil has a secret hideout there, apparently." Barry answered.

"If it's a secret, why do we know?"

"It isn't very secret." Barry replied.

"Who told you about it? Or is it posted on Monsieur Mallah's social network page?" Ollie joked.

"My nephew's girlfriend told him, and he told me." Barry replied simply.

"Oh. Okay, then." Ollie said simply. They remained in silence until they were about to land.

"You're sure all the Titans were captured?" Ollie asked. His real meaning was obvious: was Roy okay?

"Not all, since Wally is obviously still alright and talking to us. But yeah, most were. Only about ten of the very many Titans escaped." Barry replied.

"Oh, that reminds me, gotta go and pick up a friend to help us. Be there soon!" A blur of yellow and some red rushed past them just as the Javelin set down on the Place de Varsovie (1). After paying for two hours of parking (they were good guys after all, and though they would be there for undoubtedly less than two hours, a Javelin took up more space (and therefore should cost more to park) than a car.), the four heroes ran about halfway across the bridge before flying/running/being carried/ziplining (2) onto a little island in the Seine.

"I thought you said it was on the bridge?" Green Arrow asked, confused.

"Well, yeah, but... Nothing there shows any signs of an underground base." The Flash replied.

"Pont d'Iéna... Of course." Batman muttered.

"You look like you've found something. A clue?" Wonder Woman inquired. Batman nodded.

"The location called Pont d'Iéna continues past the actual bridge part of it. There are buildings for which it is the closest street, which are probably what we're looking for in this case." Batman explained.

After a few minutes of searching, they found an ominous set of black steel doors the size of a jet airliner.

"We're here." Green Arroww proclaimed. The others nodded. Obviously the Brotherhood needed a LOT of work on their secret base skills, or a dictionary with which to define the word "secret".

"So, how do we get in?" Green Arrow asked.

"Knock?" Flash asked jokingly. Wonder Woman nodded and knocked on the door. A Brotherhood soldier opened it, but before he could close it in terror at the four heroes standing outside, Wonder Woman's lasso of truth was expertly wrapped around him.

"Is this the Brotherhood of Evil headquarters?" Wonder Woman asked. The soldier nodded tensely. "Tell us where the Brain is." She commanded.

"B-Big basement, down the stairs at the end of the hall. Can't miss it." The soldier stuttered.

"Thank you." Wonder Woman replied politely as she neatly whacked him on the head, knocking him out.

Towards the bottom of the staircase, Batman heard a very familiar scream and a sound like a large discharge of gas.

"Robin..." The Dark Knight hung his head. Wonder Woman put a hand on his shoulder.

"Bruce..." She whispered.

"I know. There's still a chance." Batman nodded solemnly.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Flash ran (well, "ran" if he was a normal person. For him, it was more like a slow-motion jog to keep pace with his friends) down the stairs and shoved the doors to the main room open... Just in time to see five teen heroes burst into the room through a door on the other side.

Beast Boy was a mix of excited and absolutely terrified at seeing four Justice League members standing a mere ten yards away. Excited, certainly, because if three of the founding JL members were there then there was no way they could lose; terrified, probably, because if the bleeping Batman decided to interfere the Brain must have something much more sinister planned than they had thought. It never once crossed his mind that the World's Greatest Detective could be concerned for his former protégé, but then again, Batman was famed for being cold like that. Stoical, to turn it into an asset. Except that, according to the little voice recorder inside Robin's secret briefcase, Batman didn't care about the Boy Wonder enough to be called stoic. Beast Boy wasn't sure, having never met Batman, but from Robin's accounts he was a lot like Mento. And Robin should know, having worked— and, in all likelihood, lived— with him for at least six years.

"Where are our friends?" Beast Boy demanded. He had to look like he had it all under control. That's what Robin would have done, what Beast Boy would do if it were Mento who had just walked in.

"Right here. Vould you like greet zhem?" Madame Rouge drawled, stretching an arm out to press a ligh switch on the other side of the room. All nine heroes gasped at what they saw.

Against the wall, frozen, were almost all the Teen Titans. Though they were all in different poses, they all had clear looks of terror on their faces and all had evidently screamed as they were frozen.

"Roy..." Green Arrow whispered.

"Come on, guys! Let's go!" Beast Boy ordered. Jericho, Herald, and Pantha got ready to fight, and in the next few seconds the room was filled with chaos.

The villains weren't Joker-class, but they weren't Killer Moth (pre-mutagen, that is) either (including Killer Moth, though he had gotten worse at fighting since moving away form Gotham). In about five minutes, half of them were knocked out and replaced by double as many Brotherhood grunts. Additionally, three airborne Titans along with another four and three junior Titans had joined the fight. Batman had decided not to ask what the giant teddy bear was doing there.

Just then, the Dark Knight heard a massive release of air and, after a cacophony of sounds ranging from splashes of water to the sound of one of Green Arrow's bow-ziplines, a very familiar voice.

"Star! I could use a hand." After a pause, Robin turned to the other recently unfrozen Titans, some of whom were slightly dazed, and yelled, "Titans, GO!" Batman turned towards his foster son's voice just in time to see him initiate a group attack with some of his friends. He had to say, it was quite effective.

Starfire flew Robin down to a safer height to jump from, where he did a handspring off Beast Boy's tail (Beast Boy had turned into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and turned around to put his tail in Robin's path) and threw several birdarangs at a purple and black dragon. Cyborg used the distraction to fire his sonic cannon while Raven and Starfire joined hands and spun towards the dragon while firing their respective blasts, making a powerful spiral of energy and knocking the dragon over. Beast Boy then changed into a blue whale (or rather, a green blue whale, blue referring to species and green referring to colour) midair, landing on the dragon and knocking him out.

"How many times does this have to be done before you just stay sealed, Malchior?" Raven muttered to the dragon irritably, drawing a thick white book from her cloak.

"Aldruon enlenthranel volsolon lirus nor!" Raven shouted, causing a vortex to appear on the book's cover and suck the dragon in.

Meanwhile, Batman and Wonder Woman were teaming up to take down Plasmus (which required several freeze pellets) while Green Arrow tried to help Speedy and Flash helped Más y Menos put knocked-out villains under the freeze ray.

"Are you okay, Speedy?" Green Arrow asked as he pushed his former sidekick out of the way of one of See-more's eyeball bombs.

"I was until you got in the way!" Speedy replied irritably as the two archers were knocked back by a large eyeball-themed projectile.

"Come on, can't we talk?" Green Arrow pleaded.

"No! Not right now, anyway." Speedy pointed to the veritable enslaught of Billy Numerouses coming towards them.

"Agreed." Green Arrow smiled as their volleys of impact arrows knocked out several Numerouses at a time. Who said Batman and Robin were the only Dynamic Duo?

Meanwhile, over by the entrance the Justice League members came in through (which was also pretty close to the freeze ray), Flash was reuniting with his former sidekick (not that they had really split up— Wally still lived with him, but just fought crime separately).

"What took you so long, kiddo?" The Flash asked, ruffling his nephew's hair before punching Mad Mod and knocking him out.

"Like I said, I had to pick up a friend." Kid Flash grinned and gestured to Jinx, who walked in behind him.

"You're with him?!" Gizmo asked incredulously. Jinx felt a little guilty at the pain and betrayal in his voice, but pushed it aside. After all, it wasn't like she had gone over to the bad side.

"It's nothing personal." Jinx said sincerely, hexing her former friends into unconsciousness before going to help Wildebeest take down Madame Rouge.

"Is it just me, or is this too easy?" Raven asked no-one in particular. Batman, who was standing nearby and had just taken down Cheshire, was about to agree but was interrupted by Madame Rouge being blasted past them.

"Like I said." Raven stated flatly, levitating Psimon into one of the Herald's portals as Batman knocked Killer Moth out with one punch.

While this was going on Robin, who still hadn't noticed his mentor's prescence, was helping Beast Boy against General Immortus. Just as the Boy Wonder tied Immortus up and passed him off to Kid Flash, Beast Boy noticed that the Brain and Monsieur Mallah's were escaping.

"You take the jar, I'll get the monkey." Beast Boy said. Robin nodded, shooting a grappling hook up one of the supports on the Brain's command platform. Beast Boy turned into a pterodactyl, and when he was close enough, shifted into a gorilla to fight Monsieur Mallah. They wrestled for a few seconds before, to the primate profligate's dismay and the green gallant's glee, Mallah flung the Brain into the air. Robin caught it as Beat Boy availed himself of Mallah's distraction by knocking the gorilla guerrilla out, and the two boys landed in the middle of the room, met by their friends' thunderous applause and cheering. The battle was over.

Starfire flew to Robin's side from the hole in the ceiling she had made earlier.

"I have alerted the Paris authorities to the villains present here. Shall we go and get the pizza and the frozen milk-based desserts as a celebration of our victory?" The Tamaranean girl asked.

"Sure, Star." Robin laughed before continuing. "That is, if everyone's up for it?" Every Teen Titan in the room expressed assent, be it by nodding (pretty much just Jericho), and enthusiastic "sí" (from Más and Menos) or whatever other form of expression they saw fit to use. Batman, who was separated from Robin by the crowd of enthusiastic teens (plus five people and one teddy bear who he was pretty sure were not teens), couldn't help smiling a little. Robin always was a people person.

However, soon afterwards almost everyone realized they had to go back home, as their respective cities' villains were probably running amock and those who went to school and/or lived with their parents had to go back. The remaining people still decided to go for a celebratory outing, though.

"So, should we force him to talk to his son now or after the pizza and ice cream?" Flash asked.

"If my two cents counts, Rob's been becoming more lonely, angry, and like a mini version of Batman lately. I'd say letting him cool down after this whole Brotherhood thing would be a good idea, but not for long enough that either he or Bats can decide to just up and run away from each other." Kid Flash chipped in.

"Robin, becoming mini-Batman? This argument must have traumatized him more than we thought." Wonder Woman said, concern palpable in her voice.

"Yeah. I thought it was just that he was experiencing that rebellious streak all kids go through at a certain age." Green Arrow added.

"I doubt he knows how much it affected Bats, either." Flash muttered.

"I am still standing right here, you know." Batman reminded them. While it was interesting to hear their thoughts that they weren't comfortable telling him normally, he felt a little odd listening in on them.

"Oh, right. So, do you want to talk to him now, or in... I'm guessing about half an hour?" Flash asked.

"Not until he asks to talk. He made it very clear he wanted space." Batman replied irritably. It was only a partial lie; Batman wanted to talk as soon as possible and wished he had done so sooner, but didn't think there was any need to show a more emotional side. If villains noticed him caring about Robin... Batman didn't even want to further analyze how much danger it would put his former protégé in.

"Now, come on! Wait a minute. You're telling me that because of something Rob said a year and a half ago while feeling angry and hurt and not thinking straight, you're not even gonna try and make up?" Kid Flash asked. "You know what, don't answer that. Look, I don't know if you know this, but Rob thinks you think he's inadequate. He's been becoming more and more obsessive about cases, being all brooding and serious to the point he makes Speedy look like a clown, and pretty nearly killed himself battling someone who wasn't even there. He's almost like a younger brother to me, and I worry about him. Heck, we all worry about him, except apparently for you!" By the end, Kid Flash was shouting. All the Teen Titans who hadn't left for their homes yet (i.e., pretty much just the founding five and Titans East, plus Jinx) turned to them.

"Batman?" Robin asked, somewhat shocked.

"Looks like you're stuck with the 'now' option." Wonder Woman said. Batman silently groaned.

"Hello. You certainly got yourself into a fine mess back there." Batman greeted. Flash shook his head.

"I knew Bats was socially inept, but this? This is going to be painful even to watch." Flash whispered to Green Arrow. The Emerald Archer and his sidekick—er, partner— both nodded.

"We could have handled it." Robin replied curtly.

"I could see that from the way you got frozen by a bunch of second-rate villains."

"Well... Well I never got on your case for getting put in the Joker's death traps!"

"Robin, I don't think you're ready to be out fighting crime on your own."

"It never bothered you in the past eighteen-ish months!"

"I haven't been able to contact you."

"Yeah right! I still have my cellphone, and an email account, and I'm pretty sure you know my new address."

"Plus, I asked him multiple times if he wanted to borrow my phone to make sure you'd answer." Kid Flash added, earning him a grateful look from Robin (KF had learned to read Robin's facial expressions even with the mask on) and a mild glare from Batman, not to mention some laughter from Speedy (though that was quickly silenced by a glare from Wonder Woman).

"See? Even Wa— KF notices you've been avoiding me!" Robin added, as an afterthought, "No offence, KF."

"None taken." Kid Flash replied cheerily. "Go ahead, you two have been putting this off for too long." Robin nodded.

"Anyway... If I'm not good enough for you, you could just say so instead of being all passive aggressive! That is what this means, right? You don't think I'm capable of being a hero and you want me to start being a normal teenager! Well, no thanks! I'm old enough to choose things for myself now, and I don't need you signing permission slips for me anymore! I've never been normal and I never will be, and I don't want to leave my friends!" Robin, to those who had known him for a long time anyways, seemed like he might cry. Or, well, either that or try to hit Batman, which the Boy Wonder would know firsthand was futile.

"Robin, that's not what I meant. You're a great si—," Batman caught himself before saying the s-word (as Kid Flash had dubbed it), remembering that KF was the only former protégé of a JL member that would tolerate it, "partner. Or you were, rather. In any case, you're the best son a man could ask for, but I don't think you're ready to be living on your own— that is, with no adult supervision." Batman explained awkwardly.

"If it helps, Cy is eighteen, making him a legal adult." Speedy pitched in. Robin looked like he could hug the older boy.

"See? I'm fine without you. I can be a hero on my own, not just your partner!"

"I know, but—"

"No buts! I'm staying with the Titans and that is final; if the reason you're sticking around is to bring me back to Gotham, then my answer is no." Robin folded his arms.

"I was going to say be careful." Batman allowed a ghost of a smile to trace its way onto his face.

"So... You don't consider me incompetent, or hate me?" Robin asked.

"Of course not! Is that... what you thought this whole time?" Batman replied. Robin nodded.

"Mm-hm." The Boy Wonder spoke in a small voice, and for a moment Batman saw him as the little boy who he'd adopted so many years ago.

"Robin, I could never hate you." Batman put his hand on Robin's shoulder comfortingly.

"Promise?"

"Da. Te iubesc, pasăre mică." Batman replied. Robin grinned, refreshed at the opportunity to speak in his first language.

"Și eu te iubesc, Tati." Robin hugged Batman, and much to his surprise, he wasn't pushed away.

"What are they saying?" Speedy asked Kid Flash in a whisper.

"I dunno. But it sounds nice, and obviously they've made up, so why ask?" Kid Flash shrugged.

"Good point." Speedy admitted.

"So... Wanna go for ice cream before we go our separate ways? We never got around to that." Beast Boy suggested. Everyone else laughed fondly; only Beast Boy would be upbeat enough to suggest ice cream after such an eventful day.

"Sure. And Batman, you are not refusing this opportunity to get out a bit." Wonder Woman replied on behalf of all four JL members.

"Can we ride in the Javelin, Unc- I mean, mister Flash sir?" Kid Flash asked, correcting himself before he could say his mentor's name.

"Sure, Wa— kiddo." The Flash chuckled a bit at his nephew.

"You did that on purpose!" Kid Flash accused.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The Flash lied.

"You know, I'm glad we're less jovial than them." Robin whispered. Batman nodded.

"It only took a few days for me to find out their secret identities." The Caped Crusader said.

"A week for me, and I was ten." Robin replied.

"Come on, are you two coming or what?" Kid Flash called from down he street where the Javelin was parked.

"Be right there!" Robin called back. "Race you!" He laughed, launching himself into the air and swinging on a streetlight to propel himself forward faster, as though each streetlight was a monkey bar. He arrived at the Javelin just after Batman.

"You're improving." Batman noted. It was true: in his earlier Robin days, the boy had usually finished a good five seconds after his mentor.

"Thanks."

The Javelin ride was rather quiet, as none of the Titans wanted to risk bringing out any more unintended outbursts of emotion from their normally stoic leader and the Justice League members (all of whom had known Robin back when he was more cheerful and childish) were busy thinking about what else had happened to Robin that made him so much more angry and brooding in demeanor.

In Robin's opinion, the conversation as the group went out for ice cream was 1) far too bland and normal, and 2) much, much too short. They had talked about the villains they fought (or more accurately, Batman had asked Robin about the villains he fought in a rather supertle(1) attempt to make sure he wasn't fighting someone like the Joker; the Dark Knight had been a mix of amused (at villains like the HIVE Five and Control Freak) and horrified (at Slade and Trigon, mostly) when Robin answered) and about whether Batman was starting to get along with the other JL members better. Batman hadn't gotten to answer that question before Green Arrow and the Flash interrupted to tease him about Wonder Woman. Likewise, Robin hadn't gotten very far in telling Batman about his friends before Kid Flash, Cybord, Speedy, Beast Boy and Más y Menos all started describing his rather evident feelings for Starfire. Robin has almost risked repeating the "she's NOT my girlfriend" debacle, but instead managed to collect himself and reply that a hero doesn't have time to get into that sort of thing; this redirected the prodding and teasing onto Kid Flash and Jinx, who didn't really mind it.

When it had been time for all of them to go to their respective headquarters, Batman had wanted to make Robin promise to call and check in once a week. Thanks to every other hero present, though, he had to settle for a minimum of once every two weeks. Even though he had no doubt the boy could take care of himself (and, in the rare case he could not, his friends could), the World's Greatest Detective was worried that one of their old enemies from Gotham would target Robin for revenge. Robin had assured him nothing like that would happen, but he still had an ominous feeling— though maybe, hopefully, that was only what Robin called the "Bat-paranoia" kicking in.

Yes, his little bird was safe, sound, and all grown up. Well, maybe not all grown up yet. In Batman's opinion, fifteen didn't count as grown up. But still, Robin was okay fighting his own group of villains, and would continue to be if any of the creeps in Arkham knew what was good for them.

Of course, in all likelihood they didn't... But Batman preferred not to think of that. After all, he knew where all of them lived and, if out of Arkham, lurked.

~(to be continued... Maybe)~

_(1) Opposite of subtle from exchanging "sub–" for "super–". I know it isn't a word, but it sounds nice. Besides, subtle needs an obvious antonym, like underwhelmed/overwhelmed and symmetric/asymmetric._

_So, how'd I do? I think I could have done better on the ending... Also, to the more recent reviewe who signed as Guest, that was what I was originally going to do (they would find it more easily by seeing the hole Starfire blasted), but this worked a bit better._

_One more question: should I make a sequel? I know kind of what I'd do, but I'm not sure if I should..._

_Well, anyway, thank you to everyone who read, followed, favourited and/or reviewed this story! Have a nice day/night/afternoon/evening/any-time!_


	3. The Other Option

The decision was close, with Superman, the Flash, and Wonder Woman for and Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter and, of course, Batman against. The Bat really was stubborn like that; he never wanted to admit maybe he had been overreacting or outright wrong, and certainly never wanted to admit that things change (though that never stopped him from using it as a cryptic explanation when he decided to take a trip to Metropolis right after telling Superman they should stay out of each-other's cities).

Therefore, each of the League's founding members was trying to go about his or her normal business. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl had gone on some outer space mission, Martian Manhunter was on monitor duty, and Batman was in his room brooding and trying to pretend he wasn't worried. Wonder Woman was in her room swinging a sword around to vent some pent-up anger towards her hardheaded boyfriend, Superman was in his apartment typing up another article about himself for work (but in reality, mostly to take his mind off of the very real possibility he would never see his almost-nephew again). And Flash?

Aside from being very worried for the bright little boy (now teenager) who had managed to bring some light into the life of the Dark Knight of Gotham, the Scarlet Speedster was getting an earful from a very angry and disappointed junior speedster.

"... I mean, what the HELL was Bats thinking! How stupid and stubborn and idiotic and moronic and jerkish and aloof and any other adjectives that mean cold or dumb can he be?!" Kid Flash ranted. Flash winced and held the phone further from his ear.

"Calm down, Kid. I don't have any League business, so I'll come and help." The Flash tried to soothe his nephew.

"No, Uncle Barry. I'm going to go help Rob and the others. You try and talk some sense into Batman, deal?" Kid Flash replied, suddenly sounding like he was an adult himself. Flash agreed and hung up, wishing the teen good luck before heading to Batman's room.

Apparently, Wonder Woman had also decided to have a "chat" with the Bat. And apparently he hadn't had the time to put on the soundproof door. Luckily, Flash was the only one in that hall at the time. After a moment's hesitation, he shrugged and entered.

"Τηεοι Ολψμπει Bruce, for the so-called World's Greatest Detective, you are such a βλάκας!" Diana shouted. Barry slid the soundproof door into place. Upon seeing the speedster, Diana smiled. "Oh, good morning, Barry. Here to talk some sense into Bruce, too?"

"Yep. By the way, why were you inserting random Greek into your shouting earlier?" Barry asked.

"I just do that sometimes. Feels a bit better to say bad words when nobody else can understand, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it does. Now... Wally told me to ask Bruce what the HELL?! Seriously, it isn't like you have anything more important to do today and even if you did I remember when you would've put that aside for your former sidekick!" Barry reprimanded.

"Operative word being former. And note the past tense." Bruce replied drily.

"Stop trying to act aloof! Διος παντοδψναμος, you're acting like such a skatophage!" Diana sighed in exasperation.

"First of all, I'm going to assume that those were Greek swear words since you said you felt comfortable saying bad words nobody else can understand. Second, stop swearing in Greek. And third, I'm respecting Richard's wishes by staying out of his business and treating him as another adult hero." Bruce folded his arms with a slight harrumph.

"You know that gesture makes you seem childish more than authoritative." Barry teased. Bruce gave him the infamous Bat-glare.

"Alright, alright already. We'll give you space and brooding time. Right Diana?" Barry gave the Amazon princess a look that said they would discuss what to do out in the hall. She nodded and the two exited the room.

"Updates from Kid Flash?" Wonder Woman asked hopefully. Flash nodded.

"Yup. He called me fifteen minutes ago saying he and Jinx were about to enter the hideout. He also said he was going to force Robin to call Batman through me within the hour because this feud of theirs is, in his words, getting absolutely ridiculous." Flash answered. "So, what do we do now?"

"It seems we can't do anything but wait." Wonder Woman sighed. The pair stood in silence outside the Dark Knight's door for a minute or so.

"So, wanna grab Ollie and Dinah and play a game of Chinese Checkers?" Flash suggested. "It'll help the wait seem shorter." Wonder Woman pondered this for a moment.

"Sure, why not?"

~(forty minutes and three games of Chinese Checkers later)~

"You cheated!" Oliver Queen, also known as Green Arrow, complained. To his left, Dinah Lance, also known as Black Canary, smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, because it's definitely possible to cheat at Chinese Checkers, and someone who's never played until today would definitely know how." Dinah commented drily. Ollie apparently didn't catch on to her sarcasm.

"Thank you! At least someone agrees with me!" Ollie exclaimed. Diana, the aforementioned Chinese Checkers rookie, laughed a bit.

"Shh," Barry hushed, "I'm getting a call. Five minutes to spare, I was getting worried he'd never do it." He took out his phone, answered the call, and put it to his ear.

"Hello, Flash." Robin's voice rang reluctant.

"Hey kiddo. What happened to 'Uncle Barry'?" Barry joked.

"Not in the mood. Can I please just get this over with?" Robin asked irritably.

"Alright, alright. I'll go find Bats. I think he's still brooding in his room." With a silent wave to the other three heroes he had been passing the time and chatting with, Barry zoomed to Batman's room.

Bruce, meanwhile, had been thinking about Robin. He was trying not to think of his adoptive son's infectious giggles, or his oddly brilliant cerulean eyes and the way his "crying kitten" face would get Bruce (even in costume) to agree to (almost) anything, or about his colourful costume and cheerful bravery that could never be deterred. The Knight of Gotham heaved a wistful sigh.

"Bats? Bats can I come in? I have a surprise for you." Barry's voice came through the door.

"No. Go away."

"Come on!"

"Allen, I swear if this is you pestering me about Robin again I'm going to sic every bat in my cave on you."

"It's not!" Barry replied. He grinned as the door opened, and dashed in. "Except it kind of is. But it's not." Barry shoved the phone into Bruce's hands, said something so fast it was unintelligible to a non-speedster, and ran right through the wall out into the hallway wondering why he didn't think of vibrating through the door earlier. He was surprised to find Diana, Ollie, Dinah, Clark (when did he get back?), John, and Shayera (again, when did those last two get back?) waitin for him in the corridor.

"So, how'd it go?" Diana asked.

"I dunno, I'm going to listen in on them. I hope he doesn't have the soundproof door in place." Barry replied.

"Out of curiosity, who is Batman talking to?" Shayera asked.

"Oh, I forgot you've never met him. Batman is talking to his adopted son and former sidekick, Robin. After they've avoided each other for a year and a half, my nephew Kid Flash decided that enough was enough and apparently succeeded in forcing Rob to call Bats through me." Barry explained.

"Guys, be quiet! We can't listen and have our own conversation at the same time." Dinah reprimanded. The other heroes nodded.

"— Richard John Grayson, there is no way I would ever think any of those things. I'm sorry I never called sooner, but I thought you needed space." Bruce paused, supposedly to listen to Robin's response.

"Yes, they are. Clark can probably hear you." Bruce commented, and the mentioned Kryptonian didn't need use of his x-ray vision to shiver under the intense Bat-glare he was no doubt being given. After another statement from Robin that nobody but Clark could hear, some rustling of papers could be heard.

"Ok. Lasă-mă să văd dacă îmi amintesc acest lucru ... a primit un dicționar aici, doar în cazul în." Of the Leaguers standing outside the door, only Barry and Clark recognized the language, and none of them spoke or understood it. (1)

"Am dor de tine mica mea pasăre... Bine, poate nu atât de puțin mai. Totuși, ești mereu o pasarica dragut cu mine. Te iubesc. How about, since I don't feel like flipping through this dictionary anymore to keep up with your sesquipedalian loquaciousness, let's talk in person some time. Or you can call me at the secret Bat-phone number any time." Bruce paused before flipping the phone shut and walking out into the hallway. (2)

"Now, who wants to explain why you decided it was a good idea to eavesdrop on me?"

~(translations)~

(1) "Let me see if I remember... Got a dictionary just in case."

(2) "I missed you my little bird... Alright, maybe not so little anymore. Though, you'll always be my cute little birdie. I love you."

Just to annoy his mentor, Robin's using the largest sensible Romanian words he can think of. It's like trying to have a conversation where one person uses plain language and the other is utilizing grandiose lexemes inducing the auxiliary personage to become superlatively miffed and/or addled.

And I'm not translating the Greek, seeing as I think one of those may be an actual swear word. Two of them just have to do with the gods (seeing as Diana's an Amazon and has actually met a few of the gods), and Moirai is the name of the Fates (like Gorgon as the term for Medusa and her sisters) but I had to replace that last one since it made no sense.


	4. Wally Visits

_Hi everyone! I'm back! I decided to post an extra chapteronce where Wally visits Robin. It's in Wally's PoV, present tense. I'm still working on a special extra chapter, which I hope I can finish soon. Please enjoy!_

~(a few weeks after the Gordanian incident)~

"Hey, Rob. Can I come in?" I ask, as I zipping up to what I think is Robin's room (because all he seems to have had time to write on the door is a capital R) before the alarms I – in all likelihood – tripped on the way up make themselves known.

"No. I'm not Robin... And how did you get in here?" A monotone, evidently female voice comes back from the other side of the door. That's... not what I was expecting, obviously. Ah, there he is, running past the end of the hall I'm in, presumably in response to the alarms that just started going off.

"Hold it! What are y— KF?" Robin stops, his bo (which I didn't even try to dodge, knowing he would recognize me) less than an inch from my ear. Ok, so maybe I overestimated just how quickly he'd recognize me.

"Rob! Nice to see you! How've ya been, li'l bro?" I grin, ruffling his hair out of the neat spikes it was styled into a moment ago. He grumbles and fixes his 'do, and I want to laugh. Even when he's trying to be a properly rebellious teenager, he still takes the time to do his hair tidily (not like me, which is something Uncle Barry comments on from time to time).

"I'm not little. And what are you doing here?" He almost growls. I'm taken aback by how similar he's starting to sound to Batman, and more importantly how different he sounds from the sweet, vivacious seven or ten or fourteen-year-old boy he was when I first met him or when we did our first mission together or when I last saw him at his fourteenth birthday party.

"Can't a guy check in on his best friend? Oh, and I'm not on some sort of Justice League spy mission if that's what you were thinking. I swear sometimes you Bats can be more paranoid than Q!" I joke. Yep, he's definitely changed a lot in the past three months, or he'd be laughing along and participating in some repartee with me.

"Please, who is this person and why does he call you a bat? And what is this League of Justice of which you speak?" A girl's voice asks. I look to find out who it is, and see a seriously hot girl with bronze skin, auburn hair, and green eyes (even chartreuse sclerae, which hints she's probably the alien Uncle Barry told me about) floating towards us. Following her are a boy with green skin and hair wearing a Doom Patrol uniform— that must be Beast Boy, so apparently he separated from his old team and to signify it ditched the lame mask— and a boy with various computery stuff built into his body— he must be Cyborg.

"Star, this is one of my... Acquaintances, Kid Flash. Kid Flash, this is Starfire," says Robin, pointing to the alien girl in question, "Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy." He points to each of his teammates in turn.

"Acquaintances? Ouch, bro. I've known you since you were eight! As you said way back when, you don't spray paint magenta happy faces onto the Batmobile with just anyone!" I grin. Robin keeps scowling.

"Professional courtesy." He replies.

"Was not! I don't even think third-graders have a concept of professional courtesy!" I counter.

"Fifth. I skipped two grades." Robin smirks at me cooly.

"Well whatever! Professional courtesy does not involve ninja hugs or tickle fights." I'm so sure I've won...

"Stealth and reflex training respectively." ...that I forgot just how much of a smooth-talker Robin is.

"As much as we'd all love so much to stick around and watch you two argue, can you just get to the point?" Raven asks, in a deadpan voice.

"Alright, alright. Like I said, I'm checking in on Robin. He ran away from home three months ago, a week after turning fourteen, and Speedy and I have been worried." I explain. Robin raises an eyebrow.

"Speedy? I don't think he's worried about me since I was seven." Robin comments.

"Dude, he knew you when you were seven? I thought you only became Robin at eight!"

"No, I started going out unofficially at seven and a half. Speedy's actually the one who convinced me to get formal training, when he and Green Arrow were visiting Batman out of costume."

"So that means... You've been doing this almost half your life. That makes me a bit less worried. Does Bats know about your pre-Robin escapades?"

"Nope. And you can't tell him or... Or I won't talk to you anymore." I laugh a little at Robin's childish threat.

"Chill dude, I wasn't planning on it anyway. So, still friends?"

"Yep, still friends. Now can you go home?"

"Okay! Bye Rob, see ya around!" I dash out of the building and back to my uncle's house in Central City.

"Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, I'm home!" I call before checking the clock. Oh, right, summer break doesn't apply to grown-ups. Darn. Oh well... I guess I'll just watch some TED talks and tell Uncle Barry to make sure Batman knows Rob's new address later...


End file.
